The Face In The Fireplace
by J. Puddles
Summary: Hermione, finding herself alone, wants an escape, or to meet someone who has seen the world. When a face appears in the fireplace will her want to escape come from the face? (based loosely of the Madame de Pompadour episode) Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**_Chapter One_**

Hermione was curled up on one of the large chairs in the Gryffindor common room. She had been like it for 3 hours and hadn't moved. Sat on the cushioned seat, her back was against the chair's front, and she had brought her feet onto the chair. Her hands were clasped midway down her legs and her chin was resting on her knees. The common room was nearly deserted – only Hermione and two older students were there. The two older students were sitting in front of the common room's fire. They were –having failed a mock test- ripping up their attempt at the exam. The pair was indeed very clever, however writing essays wasn't their forte. They achieved top marks on quizzes when a date was needed, or when asked what herb was missing from the ingredients to make potion _x_, but their teachers didn't like that their cleverness was displayed in a way different to the method in which 'cleverness' was ought to be displayed. After ripping up their mock exam, they scattered the fire with the paper, and slowly headed to their dormitory leaving Hermione alone.

Hermione, as we all know, was a clever young witch. We could go as far as saying she was the brightest witch of her age. But this brought her trouble. She was taunted for being clever, for reading around the subject. Unlike previous bright young witches (and wizards for that matter), she did not go about screaming and shouting that she had achieved full marks in this test, or she had read books even adults wouldn't contemplate reading – or gave up midway through. Sat there, in her chair, she kept her body still, and focused on one thing, repeating it over and over in her head:

_I want an escape. I want to be with someone who has seen the world and can tell me it's okay to be like me._

Since sitting in the chair a few hours prior, this was the only thing that circulated in her mind, going round and round and round.

_I want an escape. I want to be with someone who has seen the world and can tell me it is okay to be like me. I want an escape. I want to be with someone who has seen the world and can tell me it is okay to be like me. I want an escape. I want to be with someone who was seen the world and can tell me it is okay to be like me._

Hermione repositioned herself in the chair slightly, so she could face the fire and watch the paper which had recently been placed here shrivel up, keeping the fire animated. The paper and logs gently moved under the heat of the fire. As Hermione had been staring at it for a few minutes now, without blinking, her vision had become blurred, until she imagined a face of a man with prominent features in the fire.  
Closing her eyes for a couple of seconds and the opening them she continued to stare into the fire hoping the face was just a consequence of her reluctance to blink. But it was not. The face was staring at her, like she was him. 

Clumsily getting out of the chair she crawled the couple of meters to the fireplace, for what is the point of walking if she was already of the floor and intended to sit once at the fireplace?

'H-Hello?' She said quietly in fear of waking any fellow Gryffindor students, and because, like any 12 year old, she was frightened by some realms of the unknown – and this was one of them.  
The face was still there, looking at her and then, what appeared to be, around the room.  
'Hi' The face replied. His voice gentle but slightly rough, paternalistic.

Hermione, a little taken back, as she had been told endlessly by pupils and teachers alike that faces in the fires can occur, but not in the fires at Hogwarts, stared deeper into the fireplace hoping for some sort of an explanation. She was taken slightly aback when she saw that the face of this mystery man was not _in_ the fireplace, but rather, on the_ other side_ of the fire place – the grate was missing too.

'But this can't be true' she exclaimed – and she was right.  
There could not be a face, nor a man, in fact, there couldn't be anything at all behind the fireplace, for behind the fire place was a thick brick wall, and behind that nothing, as the wall of the fireplace was on the exterior wall of the school. But there was.

'This is impossible' she said to herself.  
The face in the fireplace spoke again, 'Nothing is impossible with a bit of magic'. The face pulled away smiling, and the grate reappeared. Too shocked to move, or shout, Hermione sat cross legged on the floor trying to console herself, and make sense of what she had just witnessed.

'Perhaps I'm not that clever after all' she uttered after she thought up, and then dismissed possibilities of how the face got there.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

It had been ten minutes since the grade had reappeared to its rightful place in the fireplace. The young Hermione still sat cross-legged facing the fire, however the fire was slowly reducing to embers. Still watching the fire, and following the patterns and creations of the logs, Hermione noticed the grate disappear, and then the mystery head took its place.

'Hello there!' The head said. 'Please don't be startled' he added, as he noticed the young girl slowly edge away from the fire. 'Do come closer Miss. I need to ask a favour of you'. The head smiled, and two hands came into focus, ruffled the hair on his scalp, and then pulled on his glasses.

Pulling her wand from inside her cloak, Hermione slowly petered over to the fire place, stopping at the stone finish. She could feel the heat lapping at her toes, but she didn't go as close to the fireplace as possible.

'Could you please clear the metally things from around the fireplace, I'd like to do this without little noise'  
Hermione obeyed the man and moved the prongs which were used in the non-magic world to move the coal and wood to one of the chairs nearby. Although the wizarding world didn't strictly saying need to have these instruments, they were there so the children who had been brought up in the non-wizarding world could have some home comforts, and it was to make the common room look more homely. Not only this, many of the students took turns in using them when they brought marshmallows.

'If you give me a moment and I'll be with you. I hope you enjoy this trick'. The voice of the head sounded hopeful, and caring, as he didn't want to scare off this young prodigy. He had heard of this girl, Hermione on some of his travels. He knew it was her who stood before him, and knew of her skills in the art of wizardry, but he also knew that she was young, and could be easily frightened, especially of unknown things in a wizarding world.

Slowly, and surprisingly for Hermione, as she knew her whereabouts in Hogwarts, the fire place began to rotate. She made an audible gasp when she realised what was happening. She stepped back a little so her toes didn't get knocked by the moving fire place. The young Gryffindor found herself quite shocked and in fear. Dozens on questions began to form and mill about in her head:  
~what if the man behind the head wasn't a man of good force  
~what if he wanted to kill her  
and then the most terrible thought entered her head:  
~ what if I get expelled for not informing anyone about this man.

After all, it had been around twenty minutes since the first appearance, and was, up until twenty minutes ago, impossible.

Hermione maintained her gaze in the fireplace. It had turned a quarter of a turn which meant that Hermione could see half of the usual setting, and half of… well… what looked to be a wooden slated box, which was truly unfit for a wall of a fireplace, even if it was started, and developed by magic.

After the fireplace had spun its half turn it thudded to a stop. Hermione noticed a man crouching down, his back to the common room, in what was now, the new fireplace. As soon as the fireplace had stopped its movement the man quite literally jumped into action with bounds of energy.  
The man of the fireplace was sporting black converse, jeans of the same colour and a light blue shirt with a brown tie. Although a little mix-and-match, the combination suited him well.

'Fashion seems to have a changed a bit whilst I've been away' Hermione thought, and smiled as the man from the fireplace smoothed out his attire.

The stranger ruffled his hair, put on the glasses which he had worn earlier and then proceeded to stop forward, in what seemed to Hermione to be one smooth action. The man then extended his right arm to Hermione as an offering to greet. She took this offering cautiously. As soon as their hands met the mysterious man enthusiastically and gleefully exclaimed:

'Good evening! I'm the Doctor'

Author's note:

sorry for not writing anything in a while... i've been too stressed with school... i'll try and update soon - please review (optional).


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